1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the attachment of a vehicle steering wheel to the steering shaft of a vehicle. In particular, the present invention relates to the straight ahead angular adjustment of a vehicle steering wheel relative to the steering shaft of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most vehicles are steered by manual rotation of a vehicle steering wheel. The steering wheel is fixed for rotation with a steering shaft about a steering axis. Rotation of the steering shaft effects steering movement of the steerable wheels of the vehicle.
It is desirable that the steering wheel have a particular orientation about the steering axis when the vehicle is travelling straight ahead. To enable proper orientation of the steering wheel, the steering wheel is mounted on the steering shaft with an adjustable splined connection. The industry standard splined connection for commercial vehicles is a connection with 36 splines, thus providing a ten degree pitch between splines. This pitch allows for angular adjustment of the steering wheel in ten degree increments. It is desirable to be able to adjust the steering wheel angular orientation in finer increments, so as to enable the desired straight ahead angular adjustment of the steering wheel.